How to Live – A Handbook of Stoic Philosophy: Discourses and The Enchiridion by Epictetus Review: An Ancient Practical Guide to Stoic Living

This volume collects the two principal works through which Epictetus's philosophy has survived to the present day. Neither was written by Epictetus himself; both were recorded by his student Arrian. The Discourses explores the fundamental principles of Stoicism, examining the nature of virtue, human desires, and the pursuit of a meaningful life. The Enchiridion — the shorter of the two and often translated as "handbook" or "manual" — distills that teaching into practical guidance, directing readers on how to navigate life's challenges with calm rationality. Together, according to Fingerprint's own description, they form a work designed to inspire readers to cultivate inner strength and develop a deeper understanding of themselves and their circumstances.

Epictetus (pronounced Epic-TEE-tus) was born into slavery and went on to become one of the most influential exponents of Stoicism, flourishing in the early second century C.E. — roughly four hundred years after Zeno of Citium founded the Stoic school in Athens. He studied first in Rome and later established his own school in Nicopolis, Greece. As the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes, Epictetus grounded his teaching in the works of the early Stoics, none of which survive intact, making the Arrian-recorded Discourses and Handbook the primary surviving windows into his thought. His biography — from enslaved person to revered teacher — has long been inseparable from the authority his philosophy carries, lending his arguments about human dignity, freedom, and the limits of external circumstance a weight rooted in lived adversity.

The organising principle of Epictetus's philosophy, running through both texts, is the distinction between what lies within our control — our judgements, desires, and responses — and what does not, including wealth, reputation, and bodily health. The loss of a ship, for instance, is treated as what Stoic philosophy classifies as a "dispreferred indifferent": an unwelcome but ultimately neutral external event that carries no power to harm the rational will. The Enchiridion extends this logic into striking metaphor: God is described as the captain who calls us back on board, with the subsequent voyage standing as a figure for our departure from life. The Fingerprint publisher describes this dual text as "a groundbreaking work that stands as the pillar of Stoic philosophy" — a characterisation consistent with its canonical status across two millennia of Western philosophical reception.

The volume's design intent is explicitly practical. The Enchiridion was conceived from the outset as a portable manual — its very name signals that function — and the Discourses preserve Epictetus's classroom manner, which was dialogic and direct rather than systematic or academic. Fingerprint positions the edition as providing profound insights into personal growth, resilience, and self-knowledge, and explicitly markets it as the right choice for readers who want to learn about Stoicism without prior philosophical training. The pairing of the two texts is itself a curatorial strength: the Enchiridion offers immediate, aphoristic guidance, while the Discourses supplies the reasoned framework behind those directives.

As with all editions of ancient texts, the quality of the reading experience is substantially shaped by the translation chosen — and this edition's verified facts do not identify a named translator or specify which translation tradition has been used. Readers with a particular interest in scholarly apparatus, such as footnotes, textual commentary, or comparative translations, may wish to investigate whether this edition supplies those resources before purchasing. Additionally, Epictetus's Stoicism is theistically framed — his references to God, the gods, and Zeus are used interchangeably and appear frequently throughout the Discourses — which represents a dimension of his thought that some modern secular readers will need to engage with on its own terms. The edition is best approached as an introduction and a practical companion rather than a critical scholarly resource.